No middle men: Miami Heat likely to again play small

MIAMI — The goal never was to line up with a starting center who, Dwyane Wade insists, is "6-7, on a good day" and a backup who is listed at 235 pounds.

But sometimes reality dictates otherwise.

Tuesday's sobering reality was Charlotte Bobcats free-agent center Kwame Brown signing to play for the Golden State Warriors for $7 million this season. Yes, that Kwame Brown.

Another reality is that through five sessions of Miami Heat training camp, free-agent addition Eddy Curry has been able to make it through fewer than two, now sidelined by a hip flexor.

That means, for now, Joel Anthony, listed at 6 feet 9 but sized up two inches shorter by Wade, likely will take his 245-pound frame into the middle on opening night, with Chris Bosh, who is listed at 235, as the primary backup.

For as much as the Heat lacked in the middle last season, at least there was the bulk in reserve of Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Erick Dampier and Jamaal Magloire.

This time, Curry has been put on ice, while second-year Dexter Pittman, according to coach Erik Spoelstra, "probably had 17 fouls" during Tuesday's five-on-five work at AmericanAirlines Arena.

To Wade, it is nothing new, simply an extension of coming up short in the middle since he had Shaquille O'Neal and Alonzo Mourning alongside for the run to the 2006 NBA championship.

"That was great, to have both of those guys," Wade said. "We haven't had that too much. So we've always been able to have guys that play big men by committee.

"I know that's not ideal, but every team has somewhere they go, 'If they only had this; if they only had that.' "

Ultimately, an upgrade in the middle simply was not available to the Heat's price range in free agency, with Brown getting his $7 million for this season, Samuel Dalembert expected to get more and Nene expected to get even more. What's left among big men in free agency are the likes of Etan Thomas, Melvin Ely, Hasheem Thabeet, D.J. Mbenga, Francisco Elson, Kyrylo Fesnko, Dampier and an injured Joel Przybilla.

"We've dealt with that before," Spoelstra said of the lack of bulk in the Heat's diet at center. "They also have to defend us on the other end.

"We've done it before with Joel. And we've done it with Chris, at times. Dex has played well, so he'll get some time, certainly in the first couple of preseason games."

While conditioning figures to be an ongoing process for Curry well into the season, if he even survives the final cut at the end of camp, Pittman continues to be mentioned as more of a development project than anyone with real-time prospects.

"He understands our system, still has a ways to go with it, but he feels more comfortable than he did last year," Spoelstra said.

"He probably had 17 fouls today in the five-on-five that we were playing. But he's learning the proper technique."

Because this is a roster built to wait for no man, amid the championship focus with Wade, Bosh and LeBron James, it currently sets up as Anthony opening in the middle, followed by Bosh sliding over from power forward, to other power players sprinkled into the mix in the middle.

"Obviously that was a concern last year," Wade said. "You saw it in the Finals. Tyson Chandler was a big reason why Dallas won the championship."

But during the regular season, the matchups against the likes of Chandler, now with the New York Knicks, Dwight Howard and Andrew Bogut are limited.

"It's not easy to do what we're trying to do," Bosh said of potentially playing undersized in the middle, "but you're going to be asked to do things that aren't necessarily easy.

"I believe we have enough of what it takes right now. We just have to make sure we take care of our bodies and accept the challenge every night. We may be a little bit smaller, but we're more athletic, so we try to use the motto that speed kills and just work it to our advantage."